Atelier Van Lieshout The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

World-renowned for his immense and visionary projects, Van Lieshout gained international recognition for pioneering a practice that straddles the boundary between art, architecture, and design. Since the beginning of his career Van Lieshout has continued to explore the borders of what art can be, even when this approach was unprecedented or taboo. From living sculptural installations that assert or question independence, to invented objects and thematic bodies of work that push all limits, Van Lieshout dissects and invents systems—be it society as a whole or the human body to explore power, self-sufficiency, politics, fertility, life, and death.

A phrase drawn from Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone’s epic Western of the same name from 1966, ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ has become an apt lens through which to view Van Lieshout’s thematic bodies of work. The title can be seen as a thread throughout Van Lieshout’s career—he approaches complicated problems from multiple angles, highlighting ethical and societal issues while presenting alternative solutions and, at the same time, emphasizing their adverse effect. His work probes questions that ignite paradoxes and new perspectives, highlighting ethical or practical issues.

The exhibition includes new sculptures from Van Lieshout’s ongoing and overlapping bodies of work, including: CryptoFuturism, The End of Everything/ The Beginning of Everything, and The New Tribal Labyrinth, which demonstrate his everlasting lust for experimentation with sculpture while inventing a new material vocabulary.